News
Omani investment arm interested also in Hilton and GOH
Shumookh Investment and Services SAOC of Oman which recently expressed interest in two prime Colombo properties –the Chalmers Granary land and the Air Force Headquarters–is also keen on a management deal for the Colombo Hilton and Grand Oriental Hotel (GOH), official sources said.
This week, Shumookh Investment submitted expressions of interest for the two plots of land in Colombo. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) is to proceed on that basis.
The company is the investment arm of the Omani government-owned Public Establishment for Industrial Estates. It has already submitted a proposal to the Sri Lankan Government for a 100MW Solar Park in Siyambalanduwa. In July, it sent a delegation to explore the possibility of developing properties in Colombo.
Shumookh is now moving forward with its plans regarding both the Chalmers Granary and the Air Force Headquarters lands, the sources said. Under a non-binding memorandum of understanding they signed while in Colombo, the delegation had undertaken to follow established procedure and to submit expressions of interest (EoI).
“They submitted the EOIs this week for the two Colombo properties and the Urban Development Authority (UDA) will work on the request for proposals (RFP) on that basis,” the sources explained. “After that, the investor will have to submit a formal proposal. We intend to fast-track this process inside the current framework.”
The UDA has opened out many of its lands for leases–30 to 99 years–to investors and is actively seeking investment. Qatari parties have shown some interest in areas flanking the Beira Lake on D R Wijewardena Mawatha, the officials said. The Chalmers land has been available at least since 2010. And the regulator has kicked off the process of acquiring the Air Force land which has to be vested with the UDA before it can be leased to the investor.
Meanwhile, Shumookh is also interested in Colombo Hilton and GOH. These businesses are available on the public-private partnership model through the Treasury-owned Selendiva Investments (Pvt) Ltd. Selendiva was set up to raise capital for the development and revival of three hotel properties: Hilton, Grand Hyatt and GOH.
Hilton, however, is tied up on litigation and any progress will be after the case is settled. Selendiva is looking at processing Shumookh’s request on GOH.
“Selendiva is the Government’s investment arm,” Urban Development Ministry Secretary Nimal Perera recently said. “It was formed to take over under-utilised, under-performing Government assets, to restructure them, form them into viable organisations and to list 49 percent of their shares in the stock market while retaining 51 percent with the Government.”